New England news briefs for Dec. 11

Top News in Brief

Dec. 10, 2012

Mass. commits final $3M to replant 30K trees

BOSTON – The state announced Monday that it’s providing the last $3 million needed to replant 30,000 trees in the central Massachusetts area hard hit by the Asian longhorned beetle.

The destructive beetle, native to China, was first discovered in the Worcester area in 2008. The infestation spread to several communities around the city and nearly 32,000 trees were eventually cut down to try to eradicate the insect, which kills trees by boring through them.

On Monday, Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern announced the final piece of funding for the Worcester Tree Initiative, a public-private partnership they began in 2009 with a goal of replacing 30,000 trees.

Maine woman wins $100K lawsuit

PORTLAND, Maine – A law firm says the corporation that owns Zales Jewelers has paid out a $100,000 court settlement in a racial discrimination lawsuit in Maine.

The firm of Norman, Hanson & DeTroy says RyiSHisa Morris was denied service in 2010 at a Piercing Pagoda store at the Maine Mall. Piercing Pagoda is a division of Zale Corp., a publicly traded company based in Dallas.

The firm said the clerk used profanity and made derogatory comments toward Morris, who is black and Native American.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said last week it no longer plans to terminate the hospital’s Medicare funding now that multiple issues raised by inspectors have been addressed.

While details of the problems weren’t released after the latest inspection in September, documents provided to The Associated Press on Monday show that officials weren’t satisfied with the hospital’s initial response to the outbreak, among other things.

RI domestic violence survivors write, perform play

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The play is called “Behind Closed Doors,” but it’s really about opening them up.

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Through an innovative project of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 15 women survivors have come together to write and perform an original one-act play about their experiences in abusive relationships — including some who had never previously talked about their ordeals.

The idea of the project, put on by a survivors’ task force known as SOAR, for Sisters Overcoming Abusive Relationships, was to help raise awareness about domestic violence, which affects 1 in every 4 women in the U.S., according to federal statistics. But several cast members said at a scene screening Monday that it turned out to be much more: a critical part of their own healing process.

“I feel like it has finally come up, and I can finally release it and do away with it,” said Satta Jallah, a singer and musician who, in one of the play’s monologues, opens with three powerfully declared words: “I have survived.”

Deficit talks begin in Connecticut

HARTFORD, Conn. – Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says he expects “painful” budget cuts to be part of a deficit-reduction plan that doesn’t increase taxes, as his administration begins private talks with legislative leaders on how to eliminate the state’s red ink.

Administration officials were scheduled to begin the negotiations Monday with leaders of the Democratic majority and Republican minority in the General Assembly.

The Democratic governor on Monday didn’t specify which cuts would be painful, saying budget negotiations need to happen first.